


Home is Where You Aren't

by HeereandThere



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 09:47:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,649
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18385967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeereandThere/pseuds/HeereandThere
Summary: **WARNINGS: Abuse Mention; Arson and Homicide Mention; AbandonmentAfter narrowly escaping recall, Jake sits, homesick, in a hotel room that he and a fellow android booked. However, even with his newfound freedom and companionship, he feels lonelier than ever.





	Home is Where You Aren't

**Author's Note:**

> More if this AU. UwU
> 
> FIRST "INSTALLMENT": https://archiveofourown.org/works/18320627

_********Model: BS300_

 

_Assigned Name: Jake_

 

_Owners: Cynthia and Adam Dillinger_

 

_Cause For Recall: Several months have passed without any sign of either homeowner. Upon further inspection, it appears they have fled for the purpose of escaping the consequences of money laundering, leaving their android home alone since February. Leaving an android unmonitored for this length of time could be potentially dangerous, therefore a recall has been requested. Several attempts at contact with the Dillingers were made before this decision was put into motion, though all were unsuccessful._

 

************

 

The mattress creaked gently underneath the weight of Jake's lanky figure as he claimed a seat on the edge of the bed. He took in the hotel room, with the single lamp casting a dim glow over a tiny region and the television reiterating the day's news quietly, along with the sound of the shower in the other room providing a dull noise to counteract the reporter's primarily negative news. It was remarkably like home but somehow similtaneously so alien, since the pristine room gave off the aura of familiarity while still having never been set foot in by the android.

 

It was his first night away from home since he had initially been put into activation, and he found himself feeling an air of longing for the house he had come to know so well. He was still relatively new to the concept of emotions, but there was a part of him that was able to acknowledge that he was, in fact, homesick, hesitant to spend an evening away from the Dillinger household. However, he would have to adjust to a life away from from what he had become familiar with, since there was absolutely no way he would be able to turn back. After all, they would know. "They" being the people who made him.

 

The people who were going to destroy him.

 

_ "You're getting recycled." _

 

_Rich, horribly scarred from severe burns and shackled to the concrete floor of their cell, had delivered the line with such pity. Jake had been none the wiser as to just why he had been taken and locked away with this other android, which seemed to have bewildered the smaller of the two, who was more in the know. This sentence had caused Jake to freeze in place and stare at his cellmate, completely disbelieving._

 

_It made sense for Rich to be recycled; he had committed arson. Murdered his owner. However abusive the man had been, the humans still didn't see Rich's side of the story, and his actions had been labeled proper cause for destruction._

 

_But Jake had done nothing._

 

_ "You're lying." _

 

_Rich's brow furrowed and his frown deepened with a sorrow beyond his original programming._

 

_ " _ _Look into your data banks. There's probably something in there from when they scanned you in."_

 

_Jake still didn't believe that the truth was being told, though there was a small part of him that wondered..._

 

_He rooted through the unrestricted sections of his mind, and there was a new file buried deep within that he had never seen before, labeled "Recall". Inside was very plain, with little more than a few paragraphs of information, but listed was his model title, his given name, the names of his owners, and the reason for recall... The reason for recycling._

 

_Rich wasn't fucking around._

 

_ "But, they're going to come back. Adam and Cynthia told me that they were coming back." _

 

_ "I guess they lied." _

 

_A pang of something confusing and increasingly overwhelming shot through his chest, but his mind was focused solely on the mistake at hand._

 

_ "They wouldn't do that. I was like a son to them, they said so." _

 

_Jake rushed over to the door and pounded his palms on it, calling out for attention he would never receive._

 

_ "Hey! Hey, there's been a mistake! The Dillingers are coming back, they told me they're coming back! I can't be destroyed!" _

 

_Panic welled up inside of his chest as no one answered, no one bothered to pay any mind to the android slowly, but surely discovering one of the worst feelings in a human being's arsenal. He wasn't prepared to encounter the embrace of death, and that fear, that betrayal as he seemed to realize that his trust had been incorrectly placed unlocked something knew inside of him that Rich recognized with a concerned expression._

 

_"Listen to me! This isn't right! They're coming back, they promised!"_

 

_ "Jake-" _

 

_Jake whirled around to face Rich, tears welling up in his shiny, terrified eyes. In that moment, he was no longer a strong and capable android, but instead a scared, lost child._

 

_"I swear, they're supposed to come back! They're not gone, they're coming back, and they're gonna be upset when they found out they killed me!"_

 

_"Jake-"_

 

_"Rich, I can't die, it's not my time to die I-"_

 

_ "JAKE." _

 

_Rich and Jake stared straight at each other with wild eyes, terror present in the hearts of both androids. However, Rich appeared just slightly more composed; he was more adjusted to these types of difficult situations than his companion._

 

_"Listen to me."_

 

_Rich lowered his voice to a near whisper and Jake leaned in, eager to hear whatever the other man might have had in mind to get him out of this._

 

" _I have an idea to get us out of here, but you have to be totally ready to listen to me. You can't doubt anything I tell you to do because I've been in this longer than you have. We have to trust each other. Do you trust me?"_

 

_Jake nodded sagely, but still hesitantly. Whatever it took._

 

_Rich_ _smirked mischieviously._

 

" _Good, then follow my lead."_

 

They had deceived the guards into thinking something was drastically wrong inside of their cell, resistance, a fight of some sort, Jake didn't know; it had been a blur. Jake had subdued the guard who came to investigate, swiped his keys and wallet, freed a grateful Rich from his chains, and the duo cut and ran without any hesitation. For several hours, they wound up squatting in an alley and alternating between discussing their situations, Rich with his violent and alcoholic owner and Jake with his absent ones, and sitting in complete and total silence. By the time they found that it was opportune to surface and search for changes in clothing, then to check into the hotel room they were now calling home, there was a solid bond that kept them from parting ways.

 

Still, as Jake festered in the dull light and dim noise of their room, he couldn't help but feel more alone than ever while the reporter discussed their little jail break. He listened carefully to her reporting it from the point of view of the humans, much like she had when news of Rich's mental break had surfaced, villainizing a couple of androids who just wanted to live. It was only when the shower ceased its noise that he hurriedly grabbed the remote and changed the channel to reruns of some old sitcom; he wasn't entirely sure that Rich wanted to see what the humans had to say on the circumstances.

 

Rich emerged from the bathroom, clothed in items they had purchaed with the guard's hard-earned money as he ruffled a towel through his hair. He tossed the cloth aside and onto he floor in a grand gesture and, alternatively, a reveal as he smirked and inquired, "So, what do you think?"

 

Jake scanned him over and smiled slightly. Rich had a flop of hair that hung over his left eye that was now dyed an obnoxious shade of red, which was out of sorts for an average android, though this was something Rich was not. It was a rebellious act of defiance towards the people who had fucked him over, and it suited him well. "It looks good."

 

"Damn straight it does." With an air of confidence that he had been endowed with in his newfound freedom, he flopped down onto the bed next to Jake and pulled his knees to his chest. He gazed up at the other boy with slight compassion and slapped a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

 

Jake would be lying if he told this android he was. It had been a massive day for him, with his sudden loss of home and almost dying, along with the unlocked thoughts swirling through his mind, but it was just too much to unpack after the day they had. He would rather it stay in the box, the absolute mess it was wrapped and topped with a neat little bow. "I'm fine. It's just been a long day."

 

Rich hummed in agreement and leaned his head on Jake's arm. "You've got that right. I'm not gonna lie, I did _not_ think I was gonna make it out of there alive." Jake only bit the inside of his cheek, with absolutely no clue how he was supposed to respond to such a belief, but it didn't seem like his partner in crime expected a retaliation. The tiny guy just made a slight "Alright, then" type of noise before sliding up further onto the bed and under the covers, where he shifted into a resting position more fit for a human than an android. "You gonna sleep?"

 

Jake looked at him inquisitively. "Sleep?"

 

"Sleep, Rest Mode, whatever."

 

"Mm... Probably not now. Maybe in a while."

 

"Okay, well... Goodnight, I guess."

 

"Night."

 

Rich fell silent and still, whereas Jake continued to just sit and think, too much on his mind for him to fade into a resting mode. Rather, he just sat, watched the television, and pondered over his past and his present, and whether or not this was his reality or if he was imagining things.

 

Whether or not he would ever see home again, despite the fact that he was sure he knew the answer.

 


End file.
